As we cook the brinjal , its shrinks in size but the color is retained. My mom makes this curry in other way too.She slit cut the brinjal into 4 pieces , stuff this podi , use lot of oil and saute it till brinjal gets cooked in oil.Since this method consumes more oil and also the color of the brinjal turns black , we avoid making this way. For kids , u can try this method..